The page loaded instantly. No firewall. No “this site is blocked due to productivity concerns.” Just the clean, pastel promise of a city waiting to be born.
Outside, the real city choked on its own traffic. Horns blared. Meetings ran late. But inside a tiny, glowing rectangle, two grown men laid down pixel roads, and for a few more precious minutes, everything moved exactly as it should.
The first level was a gentle tutorial: a simple grid, a few red houses, a handful of blue skyscrapers. Dave clicked and dragged a road. A satisfying thwack sound. A car zipped from a house to its matching destination. Perfect.
“Unblocked,” the coworker breathed, pulling up his own chair.